


At the Beginning

by paranoidangel



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-16
Updated: 2008-03-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1997205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoidangel/pseuds/paranoidangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts with a concert</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by hhertzof

_We were strangers_  
On a crazy adventure  
Never dreaming  
How our dreams would come true 

It starts with a concert.

Ian's sure he couldn't repeat the trick if he tried it, but the Doctor has somehow talked all four of them into a concert by a band called the Bootleg Beatles. It's not that far in the future past 1963 and Ian is amazed that anyone would copy the Beatles like that, or that they would still be popular enough to. He's not sure what to expect at first, but when the band come on he's entranced by the music and doesn't notice the Doctor and Vicki have slipped away until it ends and he looks for them.

By now he's less surprised by the crowd the concert has attracted and makes a mental note to see this band again sometime. When they join everyone else on their way to the exit he's still humming Ticket to Ride and only stops when he and Barbara are nearly separated. It's not anyone's fault, just the push of the crowd and the sheer number of people it contains. He grabs Barbara's hand to keep them together.

She pulls him to one side and away from the door. "Let's wait until there are fewer people," she says, sensibly.

If the Doctor and Vicki aren't off on an adventure of their own they would wait for them in the TARDIS, so they're not in a hurry. Ian is glad of the chance to watch the variety of people contained in one large room. He's amazed by the clothes they wear, even though he's seen much more outlandish things and worn less than that on occasion too, although not entirely out of choice.

"Ian, look!" Barbara says suddenly, pointing at the crowd and startling him.

He frowns, unable to work out what she's looking at and then he sees it too. On the other side of the crowd a man and a woman are also waiting and standing so close together it's obvious what they are to each other. They're older and both have grey hair, but Ian recognises them in an instant. He's seen their faces every day for years.

"It's us." He squeezes Barbara's hand and she looks up at him with a smile.

He returns it briefly before looking back up and his heart misses a beat. The older Barbara is looking straight at him with the same expression on her face he's just seen on the younger Barbara's. Today's not the first time he's seen it, just the first time he knows what it is.

It only takes a few seconds, but time feels stretched so he always has Barbara's face in his vision. When he's regained his senses and pulled Barbara away from view he finds she hasn't looked away from him.

"Do you think they saw us?" she asks.

"They do know we're here, after all." It might be a long time in the future but he can't imagine he'll forget this easily.

"Can you imagine what the Doctor would say if he knew we were here twice?" She's laughing about it, and he can't help but laugh along with her as they head toward a different exit, further away.

~*~*~

_Now here we are_  
And I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you 

It ends with a concert.

It's the late 20th century and enough years have passed that their experiences with the Doctor and Susan and Vicki are almost dream-like. Barbara's glad they have each other to remind them it really happened. This year they do something different for their anniversary and have tickets to see the Bootleg Beatles. They're not as good as the real thing, of course, but when they listen it's easy to imagine they've only just made it back to 1965.

When the concert ends and they join the crowds on their way to the exit Ian's still humming the last song. He's hopelessly out of key and although she doesn't mind, she hits him anyway. He pretends she's wounded him, but laughs along with her, as he always does.

"This is silly," he says, as the queue for the exit moves slowly, yet jostles them as it does so. "We may as well wait for the crowds to die down."

She lets him pull her to one side with an arm across her shoulders. Her arm goes round his waist out of habit, but they've travelled in time tonight and it feels like the first time.

Ian starts humming a different song. She smiles fondly, shakes her head and looks out into the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye she spots something and takes a second look to be sure. She'd forgotten completely what the date was, although this was one experience she remembered well. The Ian she can see on the other side of the crowd is young, but still handsome and she smiles at him automatically.

"Ian," she says, her free hand going to his arm, "we're here!" But as she does so the younger Ian pulls her younger self away from view.

"What?" He's not quite concentrating on what she's saying and she doesn't think he's stopped looking at her the whole time.

She sighs. "Don't you remember going to this concert with the Doctor and Vicki?"

Understanding dawns across his face. "I remember." He smiles for a second and then steps away from her a little to gaze seriously at her. "I also remember the way you looked at me."

"How?" She frowns. There hadn't been anything special she'd thought about when she looked at the young Ian.

"The same way you always have. Ever since..." He trails off, lost in his memories and not quite focusing on her any more.

By now, though, she knows what he's thinking. "After we met the Doctor," she finishes.

He nods. "That was the first time I knew how you felt."

At that, she laughs. "Sometimes, Ian Chesterton, you can be so dim."

"And you love me for it."

She shakes her head at his apparent ego. There's no reply to that except, "Happy anniversary."

Although the crowds have thinned and they could leave safely, he kisses her before they make their own way home.


End file.
